Boxer Dogs and the Family

Boxer Dogs are very family-oriented and always love to be around people. Treat them as family members. Never underestimate their need for human companionship, which is the most notable trait of this breed.

The Boxer Dog is happiest when it is with people. Its whole pelvis moves when a Boxer Dog wags its tail in delight and exhilaration. It can adapt to any environment as long as it is with people.

They love being with their "families" and don't like to be alone. Include them in your gatherings when company is around.

They love to be your shadow. Boxer Dogs are intelligent and are quite capable of participating in many family adventures.

Boxer dogs are like humans and they need lots of love to feel like a part of the family.

Accept them for what they are and give them time to show how loyal they could be. They are very sensitive animals so never hit them.

Boxer Dogs and Kids

Boxers are gentle with children. Boxer Dogs love to play and are always ready for a romp or game, so make sure you have kids, said one owner.

Introduce the Boxer Dog to the children early, as this will bond Boxer and child and stop jealousy. You will find the Boxer will be more protective towards that child.

Some owners found their Boxers love to be around children more than adults.

They are good-natured, accept friendly strangers and will calmly suffer the pokes and prods of children.

Boxers are also accepting toward other family pets.

Boxers and Discipline

Most would agree that the day you bring the Boxer puppy home, you must already pick the direction in which you want to go with him.

Disciplining one is a matter of thinking and working a step ahead of your Boxer. Do it with love, gentleness but firmness as well.

Also, a Boxer that is well behaved today may not remain so forever. Dog's behavior constantly changes; new problems can always develop and existing ones could get worse. So make the discipline constant.

Training your Boxer is the most important thing you will do for him and for yourself in order to have a much better relationship together.

A trained Boxer will listen and can safely be allowed freedom more than an untrained one.

A disciplined and well-trained Boxer is more confident and makes a wonderful companion that is smart, soulful, most people-oriented dog and blessed with boundless energy - a pleasure to live with. 

A poorly trained dog can be a loud and destructive nuisance around the house that weighs on you more like a commitment and responsibility rather than a blessing.

Teach them young when the Boxers don't know any better rather than stressing them out when they are older and more difficult to control.

It is not fair on your Boxer to let him pull on the leash when he is a small puppy and this doesn't hurt your hand, then to scold and shout at him if he does the same when he is big and strong and makes your arms feel like falling off the joints. It is not fair on the dog and certainly not fair on you.

Start the training some place that is familiar to your Boxer, where there is minimum distraction.

But remember socialization is also an important part of the training because you don't want to end up with a very shy Boxer.

So after both of you are skilled at several obedience commands, start taking him to different areas for practice, where there are increasing amount of distractions present. Examples are near a supermarket, busy parking lot and a busy park on Sundays. This may seems like starting all over again but you'll have a superbly trained dog at the end of it. So it's worth the effort.

Keep in mind Boxers are intelligent. Being an intelligent dog has its own advantages and drawbacks.

They are quick to learn.

It also means Boxers have a mind of their own that would sometimes show up as stubbornness. Thus, they can be harder to train than most other dogs due to their independence.

Understand Boxer's intelligence/stubbornness, handle it well, and you can avoid problems in disciplining and training them.

As owners, you must maintain respect between you and your Boxers. Respect goes both ways.

Respect their intelligence. Love them. Set the rules for behavior. Trust them. There is no need for extreme measures to show Boxers that you are the top dog.

Handle their hard-headedness with patient and don't give up on their training.

And because they are stubborn, conventional obedience training may not be the most effective way to get them to listen to you. 

Utilize their high play drive for more effective obedience training.

Conduct "play training" where by the training tasks are made into fun games and the Boxer's high play drive is used as motivation. There are a lot of really good books available on this type of training.

Basically Boxers are intelligent and could be stubborn. So you have to outwit them!

While training your Boxer, you have to make him WANT to do what you want him to. You can't make him do stuff unless it is FUN. Otherwise you are wasting both your time and his.

Your Boxer's favorite activities should become training, so that training becomes his favorite activity.

Boxers LOVE to play! You will have the happiest Boxer in the world and most obedient if you will just spend some time, giving them your undivided attention everyday. Otherwise they feel ignored, bored and will tear or chew things up and will not listen to you.